BUCKTOWN ­— If the Owen J. Roberts girls lacrosse team was down mentally after falling behind Spring-Ford by a goal in the second half of Monday afternoon’s Pioneer Athletic Conference playoff play-in game, it didn’t seem to be for long.

And the Wildcats definitely weren’t down on the scoreboard for any amount of time as they fired back with four straight goals and led the rest of the way in a 13-11 win at Wildcat Field North. OJR (11-3, 15-3), the second seed from the Liberty Division, will take on Frontier Division champion Phoenixville Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Spring-Ford in the PAC-10 semifinals.

Devin Hassinger scored four times for the winners and goalkeeper Devon Hennessey made 16 saves. Sasha Wozniak led the Rams (10-4, 10-7) with four goals and an assist.

Owen J. Roberts trailed only once in the first half at 1-0 and built a 7-4 advantage by the intermission. Then Spring-Ford went on a 5-1 run after the break with a score by Wozniak giving the Rams a 9-8 edge with 16:21 remaining in the match. But it didn’t take the Wildcats long to regain control after a timeout.

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“I wouldn’t even call it a bad stretch,” said OJR coach Amy Stone. “They (the Rams) are a skilled team … very fast. It didn’t take long for us to get our game back and we kept our composure.”

“Maybe for a couple seconds,” Hennessey said concerning how long her team was down mentally. “When we fall down, we pick up the pace and get it back.”

Kerry Huzzard – one of four Wildcats with two goals along with Gabbie Delgatto, Jess Harsch, and Maddie Gebert - tied it with 13:34 remaining. Not too long after that, OJR was up a player due to a Ram penalty and Hassinger netted two goals within 11 seconds, the first off a free position and the second off a pass from Huzzard on a fast break following the ensuing draw.

Then Harsch scored on a pass from Delgatto, giving the Wildcats four scores within 8:26 after falling behind and a 12-9 lead with 7:55 to go, and the Rams did not get closer than two after that.

The loss ended an up and down league season for Spring-Ford, which gave nine-time defending champion Boyertown all it could handle the first time around and beat OJR by two goals, but then lost a one-sided game to the Bears the second time and a 12-11 overtime match to the Wildcats last Monday. Many of their matches were also up and down as they seemed to alternate scoring streaks with times of sluggish offense as they did on Monday.

“It’s just been one of those seasons where we’re not quite together … up and down, sickness, injuries,” said Ram coach Amy Short. “And we’re used to that. We’re a slow team to get started. You could almost see the air come out of them when we got the yellow card. But she (Stone) has really improved the program. They came on strong.”

Coach Stone thought that the resurgence during the game and the season could be credited to the seniors on the squad.

“The seniors have been just phenomenal,” she said. “They’re directing the team.”

“They keep us going,” added sophomore Hennessey. “They keep the intensity on the field. We’re one team, and that’s how it’s stayed the whole season. We’re not selfish and we’re very supportive of each other.”

NOTES

Morgan Stone also had a goal for the winners along with an assist and Harsch racked up two assists and Delgatto and Huzzard one each. … Kat Connelly had two goals and an assist for the Rams, Brianna Cirino and Anna Charlebois two goals each, and Leann Shaw a goal and two assists. ... Spring-Ford keeper Sam Walters made 12 saves. … In their regular season meeting at Phoenixille on April 11, OJR was a 14-4 winner over the Phantoms. ... Boyertown and Pottstown will play in the other semifinal at 6:30 p.m. and the winners will meet for the championship on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Phoenixville. … Last year Spring-Ford advanced to the final and dropped an 11-7 decision to Boyertown.